To start this incredible adventure that is the Ephemera Documentary I wanted to go back to my roots in Basilicata. More precisely in Episcopia, the village where I was born. In looking for evanescence in the world I noticed that also in Basilicata some uses and traditions are fading away as youngest generations embrace a more globalized way of life.
One of these traditions is the traditional family pig butchering. Some local families here in Episcopia still raise their own pork in fair and respectful conditions, far from the inhuman abuses of intensive farming. Then, once a year during the winter, they gather with close friends and neighbors to slaughter the animal and produce almost the only meat they will consume during the following year. When I was a kid most of the grandparents in the village had a stable next to their home. In the last 30 years, economical progress and emancipation came with the adoption of a more industrial way of life and with a more limiting legislation. Few people are left that are willing and are allowed to raise pigs. Most of the other families just buy the raw meat from them and transform it using traditional techniques.
A lot as changed but this recurrence is a true social event of local life. A celebration of the millennial relationship that binds these men and women to this animal and of the fact of doing things yourself, together with your community.
While some people don’t eat meat because of religious or personal beliefs that are to be respected, the ones who do should at least engage in a more responsible and balanced consumption that goes back to a more more intimate, direct relationships with the environment.
Music by Spettro Sonoro http://www.spettrosonoro.it
Follow also the project on:
Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/EphemeraDoc/
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/ephemeradoc/
Twitter https://twitter.com/ephemeradoc